Simona Halep has defeated Gabriela Ruse, 6-1, 6-2, on Wednesday, in the second all-Romanian duel of the WTA 250 Transylvania Open tennis tournament, taking place at the BT Arena in Cluj-Napoca, endowed with total prizes of 235,238 US dollars.
Halep (30 years old, WTA's 18th), the main seed, prevailed over Ruse (23 years old, WTA's 85th) after an hour and 13 minutes and qualified for the round of 16.
Simona Halep secured a cheque worth 3,675 US dollars and 30 WTA points, and will face off Russian Varvara Graceva (21, WTA's 81st) in the round of 16.
In the doubles event, Irina Bara and Ekaterine Gorgodze (Georgia) qualified for the quarterfinals, after a 7-5, 6-2 victory over German pair made up of Mona Barthel/Anna-Lena Friedsam, in just 62 minutes.
Bara and her partner, who secured a cheque worth 2,300 US dollars and 60 WTA points in the doubles, will play in the quarterfinals against Russians Alena Fomina/Ekaterina Yashina, who eliminated the top seeds in the first round.